One example of this kind of conventional transmission is shown in FIG. 19. In this type of transmission, an input shaft 101 for receiving drive force from an engine was supported at the upper portion of the casing 102 by two superimposed bearings 103 and 104.
The input shaft 101 could not be extended much downwardly, because the lower end of the input shaft 101 was disposed directly above and perpendicular to the axis of the output shaft 107, on which output shaft a large gear 106 was mounted to mesh with a power transmission gear 105 of the input shaft 101. Further, since it was impossible to support the input shaft 101 stably with only one bearing 104, two bearings had to be mounted in a superimposed manner so as to increase the supporting strength of the input shaft.
However, this prior art transmission the two bearings being superimposed on each other was bulky. Therefore, with this type of transmission, it was impossible to address the need for a compact lawn mower.